Post by The Circle Television Network on Aug 8, 2014 20:09:28 GMT -5
Nyako's Apartment
Soho, New York
8 August 2014
I cannot deny that I am completely mesmerized as I watch Gabriella Camacho’s workout routine. She is an impressive physical specimen who seems highly proficient at pushing herself beyond any perceived limitations. Despite the highly sexualized presentation that CTN…and more likely Maleek Raheem put on her Army Strong Fitness System, it seemed very effective. Certainly this was not the way that I trained…but I could see the merit in it for someone using her particular style.
Her last match against Zelda Knite, a woman I have had more than a few tangles with inside the ring, was telling. Knite seemed to have an answer for everything that Camacho threw at her. At the end of the match, it seemed that Knite would finally overwhelm her with skill, but Camacho employed an impressive strength counter that took Knite off guard and led to her defeat. Many in LAW may have viewed this as an upset…but I could see it now, just as clear as day, Camacho was a game fighter who’s looks were deceiving. She packed a punch in that frame of hers, and anyone who took her lightly would end up staring up at the lights for three beats of the arm.
I didn’t want to be her next victim…but admittedly, I wasn’t at my absolute best. My ribs were still a mangled mess and my thoughts, more often than not, drifted to Sidney Grey and Summer St. Clair. I knew that the distraction might cost me if I allowed it to…but sometimes good sense just wasn’t part of the equation. I wanted to be in the match with Camacho because she was a warrior in the ring…and I wanted to test myself against her…injured or not. She would bring the fight to me and my limits would be tested…that is how you became better. That is what I wanted…to be tested…to be better.
The other reason for me wanting to be at LAW #12? Well…I certainly couldn’t thumb my nose at a chance to face Grey and St. Clair for what they did on the last show. No…not only to me, but to Crystal Hilton. I know…with my history, it seems strange to even conceive of the notion that I would come to her aid…but I have seen the change in her…and I desire to see that same change in myself…even if it is only but skin deep.
I was raised in a world mired in violence…it became my code and I loved it…I truly love it still, but I have found something else that I may in fact love more…my sister Nyako. For a time…I must admit to myself…I hated and despised her for not fighting to come with us when our father left South Korea. She had stayed with our weakling of a mother…and she had entrusted our brother’s safety…my twin’s safety to me. The burden had been too much…at least, it had been in the world in which I had lived. Maybe my hate had come from the shame that I felt when I saw the blame in her eyes…whether real or imagined. That, I truly cannot say…but I do know this, she is right to blame me…just as I was wrong to hate her for it.
I know that I have many sins to answer for…far too many to answer for in this lifetime, but I intend to try. Once…my sister looked on me with favor…that was the last day that she ever saw our brother. I want her to look at me in that way again…I want her to see me, not as the monster I became…but as a sister she can be proud of.
The match with Camacho is to satisfy my need to compete against the best…to take everything she has and try to keep on going. Maybe my body will fail me…and maybe she will prove herself to be too great of an adversary…that I can respect. Win or lose, I will learn something about myself…something about my limits…at the end I will become better for it. I think that Camacho feels the same…and I admire that about her…
I have no such admiration for Grey and St. Clair!
Their actions were a painful reminder of who I was…who I no longer desire to be. Facing them on the last show…defending Hilton gave me a sense of purpose that I haven’t felt in a good long while. In the end, I paid for my sensibilities…but it was worth it to me…to show myself and the world that I could be something different that I was…something better than I am. I want to do that again on Sunday…no matter what my physical condition is.
I don’t know how I was cleared to compete this weekend…and frankly I don’t care. I wanted to be in that ring to meet the challenge that was put before me…and I wanted to be in that arena to face down the likes of Grey and St. Clair. I have that chance…and I mean to take advantage…on both counts.
I am roused out of my musings by a knock on the door. I paused the DVD player in the middle of Camacho’s endurance conditioning session.
I start to get up, but I find myself fascinated by the paused image of her on the screen. Suddenly I realize that there is quite a bit of merit in what people have said about the video and the sexual nature of it…then again…maybe it was just the dirty minds of the viewers…
…your mind being the filthiest of them all…I know you’d enjoy tasting her…making her squeal…making her scream…making her bleed…
I shake my head to clear those vile thoughts away and remember the knock at the door. I walk over and stare through the peephole…and the surprise that I feel at what I see is extraordinary. Sidney Grey’s personal assistant…turned business manager…
…we can send Grey a message…nothing says watch your back like a lackey in a wheelchair…
Before I can stop myself, I open the door and greet her, “Well now…if it isn’t Sidney Grey’s little pet…” my eyes narrowing as I struggle against my desire to reach out and choke her until the capillaries in her eyes pop. “…what a happy day this has just turned out to be…”
I can immediately see that I have made her uncomfortable…and while a part of me is remorseful, I don’t bother to change my demeanor. “You’re here to see Ny?” I ask, already knowing the answer…she obviously didn’t expect to see me here. I hold the door open wide for her, not bothering to wait for her to answer or accept.
As she walks in, she eyes me suspiciously, as if she expects me to attack her at any moment. It’s apparent that my reputation precedes me…but I don’t know how to feel about that. I close the door behind her, slamming it a little harder than I probably should have and she flinches as she turns around to face me…
…its good that she’s scared, that shows that she’s smart…though, she can’t be too smart…she’s locked in here with us…
“Ny isn’t here right now, but I expect her back…soon.”
The girl grows visibly more nervous as she wrings her hands. “H-How much l-longer do you…think?”
I shrug my shoulders as I answer with a question, “Soon?” Since I really don’t know, I don’t bother to elaborate…but even if I did know, I might not tell her. I gesture for her to have a seat and as she does, I sit across from her. “My apologies for not offering you anything…” I finally add, “…it’s not that we don’t have anything, its just that I’m not sure that I like you.”
She swallows as she shakes her head, “I-It’s okay…I-I understand.” She pauses again, presumably to gather her thoughts before she addresses me again…this time more confidently. “I want you to know…I didn’t have anything to do with what Sid did to you and Crystal on the last show.”
I raise my eyebrow, “I thought you were her Manager…isn’t that your job to know such things?”
She quickly counters, “I’m her Business Manager…I just handle her career outside the ring.” She sighs, “Not that you don’t have the right to be angry with me…but I wanted you to know that…at least.”
…she’s a fucking liar…
I don’t listen to the voice inside my head since I know who the real liar is in this situation. I allow my hard edge to soften in the hopes that it will put her more at ease, then we can get right down finding out what is what. “So…Grey and St. Clair are…off the leash…as they say?”
She sighs, “And that is why I am here. I know that what they did to you on the last show was very wrong…was unwarranted…unforgivable…but I am asking you to forgive her for her actions.”
I arch my eyebrow, “You don’t want me to take revenge against her…”
…she doesn’t want us to crush Grey’s face and dash her brains out of her head…
I straighten a bit, “I didn’t say that I would do anything to your…client.”
SoLo nods weakly, “Ms. Shinsuzuki…your reputation does precede you.”
…as well it should, I hope that you consider yourself lucky…
Honestly…while I had initially thought of little else, time had softened my stance and I was no longer sure of what I would…or to whom. The old Oni would have taken this girl and made and example out of her…disfigured her…all to send a message. I was striving to never be that person again…
…you will always be that person…
This was my chance to change…I just had to take that step. “I will not make any promises to you, where it concerns Grey and St. Clair. If they attempt to take liberties with me again…things will NOT go well for them…”
She lowered her head with a slight nod of understanding, but I reach out and put my hand on her shoulder. “However…I will not seek them out…if you find that acceptable.”
She smiles at me as she looks up and I can see that this is enough for her. “Ms. Shinsuz…”
I cut her off, “You may call me Oni…or Kymiku. You may pass on the formalities, sister.” She looks at me very strangely when I tell her this, and I am unsure of what I have said that has taken her aback.
“Sister…? You called me sister” she says.
I can tell that she has read a much deeper meaning into this than I meant and my curiosity blossoms. Instead of explaining my meaning, I remain quiet and allow her explain instead.
She lowers her eyes as if she were ashamed of what she was about to say…her stutter returning. “I-I didn’t know t-that Nyako had told you.” She looked up and met my eyes, but I kept my expression neutral. “She didn’t really speak much about her family before she was adopted by mine. I always assumed that you wouldn’t be as accepting of me since she never told you about me…but I am glad that she did…I suppose we all really are sisters now.”
I sit there in complete silence and utter confusion. Several moments past before I realize that the girl is holding my hand. I open my mouth to speak…frightened of what might come out, but I am interrupted by the sound of the keys in the door.
Nyako opens the door and walks in, but she stops dead in her tracks as she sees SoLo sitting beside me. Her face is a mask of confusion and then anger as she focuses on the girl, “WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”
I am up to my feet in a flash as I cut her off. My eyes find hers and we go nose to nose. When I speak to her, I make sure that she knows that I am displeased…incredibly so. “NY! That is no way to speak to our little sister!”
She stares at me and I am forced to look away, as not to reveal the hurt that is there. I don’t know why I feel the way that I do…
…betrayed…
But I can’t help it. Why keep this a secret from me…and why for so long…?
…you know why she did it…you can’t really be that stupid can you…
I straighten and take the keys from Nyako’s hand, shoving them into my pocket. “She’s here to see you…I’m going out for a run.” I turn to SoLo…my sister…and I nod, excusing myself.
As I walk out, I hear SoLo say to her, “You didn’t tell her about me…did you…”
I slam the door closed and stand there for a moment with my eyes closed and my fist balled tightly. I shouldn’t be this angry…but I am. Am I jealous…?
…of course…
Am I jealous…but I am also wounded by the fact that she couldn’t tell me about her ‘other’ family. I know that I should not blame her…I shouldn’t blame either of them. I am the only one to blame. Nyako was obviously ashamed of me…
…frightened of us and what we might do to her little surrogate family…
I take a deep breath and do what I can to put the thought out of my mind for now. Better that I save it for later…save it for my match with Camacho. She has not earned my wrath…my rage…but I gave my word that I wouldn’t seek out Grey or St. Clair.
I turn and drive my fist into the wall…and for a moment I wish that I could be my old self again…for a moment…
…all things in time…